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Brendon McCullum detested the label Bazball the moment it emerged, deeming it reductive and perhaps foreseeing how it might be weaponised down the line. Right now, down 2-0 in an away Ashes series that began with high hopes, it has turned into the subject of mockery from Australia.

However McCullum has not helped himself either. Following the gut-wrenching loss at the Gabba, his insistence that, if anything, England were 'too prepared' before the day-night Test was like attempting to extinguish a bin fire with petrol. It risks becoming his epitaph as England head coach if performances do not improve.

In a way, you almost have to admire his commitment to the bit. While McCullum claims to ignore external noise, he must have been all too aware of an England team often described as freewheeling and underprepared.

The truth, as always, is more nuanced. England enjoy golf just as much during their scheduled breaks as their rivals and they train just as much. Prior to the Gabba Test, they trained for longer, logging five days compared to Australia's three, given their lack of exposure to the pink Kookaburra ball and the changes in lighting conditions.

The Question of Preparation and Training

The coach's point about being "excessively ready" was that those five extra days were his decision – the moment he wavered in his belief that less is more. It meant a significant amount of mental energy was expended before they even stepped out in the intensity of Australia's fortress. And though net practice are a opportunity to refine skills, they can also become a comfort zone; zero consequence activity that simply keeps the reactions quick.

Fixtures are tight such that warm-up matches against state sides were unavailable (and no guarantee, as shown by England having played three before the whitewash in 2013-14). What is harder to square is the disregard of county championship cricket as a worthwhile exercise more broadly, as shown by Jacob Bethell's wasted summer.

Match Deficiencies and Philosophical Lack of Evolution

Only playing hardens cricketers for the various scenarios they encounter, and it is here where England have thus far fallen well short. The issue is not just with the batting – as poor as some of the shot selection has been – but an attack that seems leaderless. None has shown the patience or control that the otherworldly Australian paceman and his support cast have displayed.

The coach's unconventional approach was freeing during its initial year, an excellent, well diagnosed remedy to shake off the lethargy that preceded it. The disappointment now stems from how it has seemingly failed to move beyond that point – an absence of an upgrade to the original software that has seen results taper off to 14 wins and 14 losses from their most recent matches.

Player Focus and Selection Dilemmas

One such player is the wicketkeeper-batter, a talent, undoubtedly, but one who is being constantly tested on each side of the bat and has dropped two crucial opportunities with the gloves. The situation is not aided when your counterpart, the Australian keeper, has just delivered a virtuoso display.

Based on McCullum's words in the aftermath, England appear set to persist with Smith in Adelaide. The expectation – similar to the broader situation – is that a switch to a more familiar Test setting unleashes his top form, with Perth's bouncy pitch and the unusual floodlit Test now out of the way.

The alternative is to enact the plan stumbled across during the victorious series in New Zealand last year by moving Ollie Pope down to his more natural home as a active No. 5 or 6, giving him the wicketkeeping duties, and picking a new No 3. A young contender scored runs for the Lions recently, or maybe Will Jacks could perform a comparable function to Moeen Ali in 2023.

Ultimately, none of this is ideal, with Australia's superior basics having shattered pre-series optimism and forced the team's entire approach into the spotlight.